Name:	lnc_PercentageOfAggregateNetProceedsOfEquityIssuances
Namespace Prefix:	lnc_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

Total Aggregate Indebtedness divided by Net Capital, high end of range.

No definition available.

Name:	lnc_RatioOfIndebtednessToNetCapitalHighEnd
Namespace Prefix:	lnc_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

Total Aggregate Indebtedness divided by Net Capital, low end of range.

No definition available.

Name:	lnc_RatioOfIndebtednessToNetCapitalLowEnd
Namespace Prefix:	lnc_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

Represents the minimum risk based capital requirement for the entity's primary life insurance subsidiary as one of the trigger events of capital securities covenants that require the Company to make an interest payment in accordance with an alternative coupon satisfaction mechanism ("ACSM").

No definition available.

Name:	lnc_RiskBasedCapitalRatioThreshold
Namespace Prefix:	lnc_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

No definition available.

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Maximum borrowing capacity under the credit facility without consideration of any current restrictions on the amount that could be borrowed or the amounts currently outstanding under the facility.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.19(b),22(b))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityMaximumBorrowingCapacity
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

The lowest amount of net worth (total assets minus total liabilities) required by secondary market investors or state-imposed regulatory mandates.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 948
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6490092&loc=d3e47304-110998

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 948
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (c)(a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6490092&loc=d3e47080-110998